A Chronicle of the historic and award winning Gardens and Grounds of Glen Magna Farms, owned by the Danvers Historical Society, Ingersoll Street, Danvers, MA.

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Horticultural restoration. Linking the past to the future.

In 1926, the Massachusetts Horticultural Society awarded Ellen Peabody Endicott with the Hunnewell Gold Medal for the beautiful gardens of Glen Magna Farms. When you walk the 11 acres in 2017, the past still resonates with every fragrant blossom and with each step through the winding garden paths. Today at Glen Magna Farms, the horticulturist’s role is to restore the gardens to the 1920s landscape. One of the challenges and privileges of horticultural restoration is balancing past methods of gardening with the needs of a 21st century world.

Restoration horticulture must be responsive to cultural concerns. For example, in recent years a movement has started to plant native species in our gardens and parks. This push of planting native species is in direct response to many of our old time favorite garden plants escaping cultivation and finding themselves on the invasive species list. One example is the oriental bittersweet, an ornamental garden plant from Asia planted in American gardens in 1879. The oriental bittersweet has become an invasive species and has spread outside cultivation into New England forest, out competing local flora. Another old-time favorite, growing in the Glen Magna Farms garden is Bishop’s weed. At one time this plant, from Eurasia, was considered a wonderful garden plant and was intentionally planted in American gardens. In todays garden it is considered an invasive exotic. To this day, it is a constant struggle to keep this one-time favorite garden plant from completely taking over the flower gardens at Glen Manga Farms.

New environmental concerns are now arising that must be faced. Horticulturists are well aware of our ever changing world, and our practices must be versatile to handle these changes. One current concern is water use in the garden. No longer is it possible, or wise, to garden with the mindset that water is a infinite resource.

A new horticultural restoration project has been underway at Glen Magna Farms for the past three years, prioritizing new cultural and environmental concerns while maintaining a strong link to the past. A simple method of putting this into practice has been creating a database of plants that are drought, disease, and insect tolerant, while also maintaining historical accuracy. With no surprise, many of these drought tolerant plants turn out to be native to North America. The use of soil building and on site materials, such as leaf mold and bark mulch, plays a key role in using less water (leaf mold can hold 500 times its own weight in water). Also the removal of invasive shrubs, trees, and vines will create new habitat for non-invasive plant species.

This horticultural restoration project is still underway at Glen Magna Farms and will be for many years to come. Horticulturists must be adaptable and creative to move with the cultural and environmental concerns of the future. With this changing world, the hope is that the garden will be a constant. A place of not only of sight, smell and touch, but also of feeling. A place to go back to again and again.

Matthew Martin

Buildings and Grounds Restoration Manager.

A wall of invasive trees will soon be removed and new sustainable, non invasive trees will be planted.

Before and after. Making room for newsustainable plants by removing invasive ones.

Sustainable, drought tolerant plants are being implemented into the flower garden. Notice the use of a thick layer of bark mulch to hold moisture in the soil.

In 2015 a large tree that was planted in 1894 declined and eventually died. A young red oak tree was planted next to the stump in 2016.

By looking at the stump you can see how large this tree once was. Most of the the limbs of this tree were chipped and turned into bark mulch. This bark mulch is now being used to improve the soil and moisture holding capacity in the flower gardens at Glen Magna Farms.

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SPRING PLANT SALE

This year's Annual Glen Magna Farms Plant Sale opens on Saturday, May 7, from 9 AM to Noon and continues every Saturday from 9 AM to Noon as well as every Wednesday, starting May 11, from 4 PM to 6 PM through May. As always, there will be an excellent and wide selection of sun loving/drought resistant perennials, shade loving perennials, annuals of all sorts, and ornamental and culinary herbs. And, this year, the Sale also offers a limited supply (field dug) of the gorgeous yellow/purple Bearded Lorelei Iris from the award winning Chamberlain Garden.

GLEN MAGNA TOURS

EXPERIENCE THE BEAUTY OF THE MANSION AND FORMAL GROUNDS OF GLEN MAGNA FARMS WITH OUR BOXED LUNCH TOURS.

2016 Tours dates are in the process of being set and will be announced here in the near future.

RESERVATIONS ARE ALWAYS REQUIRED!!!!ONCE THE 2016 DATES ARE ANNOUNCED, PLEASE CALL 978-777-1666 TO MAKE YOUR RESERVATION.